Quick and Dirty Micro Powerboat, any ideas, plans, or designs?

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by JONSHOW, Dec 27, 2009.

  1. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    Quick and Dirty Micro Powerboat, any ideas, plans, or designs? (UPDATED 12/28/09)

    Does anyone out there have any idea where I can find plans, sketches or designs for a little two seater powerboat?
    I've got a 20 horse Johnson that I just finished rebuilding and now I think I'd like to jam it on to something we could have a little fun with.
    A little project boat we can take out on the lake and have a few laughs with.
    I've seen the olden times boat plans on the svensons website but they look rather involved.
    What I'm looking for is a quick and dirty solution. Stich and glue maybe?
    I've never built a boat before (except out of cardboard at summercamp once) but I figure, "How hard could it be?"
    Now I might be a boat building rookie, but I've got some skills. I'm a machinist by trade and I hold a degree in Industrial Design. I've prototyped all kinds of stuff and I've got a handle on most manufacturing processes even if I havent actually performed them.
    So, my requirements are fairly simple, quick and dirty, and it probably wouldnt hurt if she were buoyant.
    Thanks in advance for any input. (even the burns, ribs and jabs that are sure to follow)
    j
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2009
  2. thudpucker
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    thudpucker Senior Member

    You could Google "free boat plans" or go to the "Glen-L" site or another guy on this forum "LewisBoats"
    It's gonna take you a year to sort through all the choices in your question.
     
  3. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    Thanks for the initial response.
    Well a google search is where I started, that led me to the svensons site, the glen-l site and eventually to this site. I'll have to research the "Smith Boats" reference.

    All the choices? I want it to be fun, I want it to float, accept a 2ohp outboard and be quick. I dont think you're grasping the "quick and dirty" concept, think WEEKEND, and expand that to a WEEK if required.

    Who knows, maybe it's just going to require some experimentation and a life jacket.
     
  4. apex1

    apex1 Guest

  5. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    20 hp on a little boat will get you 30-45 mph depending on the design...you build something THAT quickly and it will most likely fall apart on you. You don't realize the pounding going that fast can give such a little boat. I wouldn't consider going in anything powered by a 20 hp motor that was built in less than about 120-150 man hours...you just can't do a decent job of it. If you go glue and screw...you have to make frames and molds and give time for the glue to set up properly. Then you still have to sand, fit out furniture etc. Plus it is heavier and therefor slower. If you go stitch and glue you still need to give time for the epoxy and glass to cure, even after getting all the panels correctly cut out, joined together, sewn, filleted, taped, flipped , taped, glassed, sanded, painted, furniture installed, controls installed...and on and on.
    I built a 10 footer open skiff in stitch and glue...it weighed about 110 lbs and took about 2 1/2 months from 1st cut to 1st float (not including paint). I was clocked at 24 mph with a 9.5hp motor and every little wave felt like I was slapping concrete. People sitting forward had to have double cushions to keep from bruising their butts. If the boat hadn't been build properly I would have pounded it to pieces in no time flat. With that 20hp you would want something a bit bigger and beefier or a life vest might be the least of your concerns. I would go with a good set of plans and take the time to build it properly rather than try to slap something together and ending up with a disaster. Below is a link to the boat I built just to show what might be involved.

    http://www.angelfire.com/ego/lewisboatworks/html/fishbuildnav_a.htm
     
  6. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

     
  7. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    Thank you for your response. Some GREAT info in there and an interesting pictorial run through of a stitch and glue build.
    The more I research this area, the more I come to realize that as fun as it might be to build something that may provide an afternoons worth of fun until it sinks. It would be a far better investment of time and energy to build something that would provide fun for years.
    Now, what to build....
     
  8. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    Quote
    I may end up taking my time with a glen-l stitch-n-glue.
    qoute end


    Or one of the others.......................
     
  9. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    OK then, so what to build.

    I want a small boat powered with the 20Hp Johnson outboard I already have.
    Heres what I'd like the boat to be able to do;
    1. Go fast
    2. Come up on plane pretty quick
    3. turn at high speed
    4. seat 2 adults
    5. handle some small lake chop from time to time

    Now I know that to achieve some of these criteria you have to sacrifice others, to go fast you need to reduce weight, and if you reduce weight you sacrifice strength, etc etc.

    so, im thinking of maybe one of these designs.

    https://www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=365
    https://www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=786

    this next one is a stitch and glue

    https://www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=320
     
  10. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    huh?
    Je ne comprends pas
     
  11. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    My first question with any of those designs...does your motor have remote controls? If not...can it be adapted for remote controls? None of those designs is useful with a tiller motor...you have to have remote steering,transmission and throttle control...
    My second is how long of a leg does your motor have? Your first link is designed for a 15" leg motor...a short shaft.
    Third...The second boat reads for a minimum of 35 hp...it would not perform well with a 20 hp motor.
    The boat in the third link looks like it would suit a long legged motor...20" and is in the right hp range. The transom could be cut down for a shorter motor if needed.
     
  12. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    Well it is a tiller motor, 20", but I'm pretty certain it can be converted as the guy I got it from had intended on doing just that with it. I'm in a different town than the motor for the next few months but I'll get a buddy to check the serial/model # for me to confirm. I'll also get him to photograph the prop so I can try to determine if its suitable for the project. I'll have to procure a conversion kit or cobble together the requisite components and fit them myself, I'm sure its doable.

    Well after a little reading up on the differences between plywood building techniques, glue & screw vs stitch & glue, it sounds like my third option, the Dyno Mite, might be best suited for my "Adapted Quick & Dirty" build. Which is now going to be neither "quick" nor "dirty". For a first time boat builder such as myself, it sounds like this may be the "quickest" build and quite possibly the simplest. I'll be sure to drop something on something or spill some epoxy where there shouldn't be any, and that should make up for the "dirty" part.

    Any tips for keeping her as light as possible through the build?
     
  13. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Use the best plywood...it is stronger than crappy stuff and also usually lighter in weight. Occume, sapele or other 'mahogany' BS1088 marine ply. Practice on some cheap crap ply for doing fillets, coatings and glassing...it will pay off in lightness when you do the real thing. Using a little bit to practice with will also save you $$$ in the long run. Read all you can about the processes you will use so you good idea what you are going to do then write out a simple list of don't forgets before each session. This establishes goals for each building session and reminds you about details when you get focused in on something. The lightest materials=the most expensive usually too so it will cost more to have less boat...if you take my meaning. Go with the bill of materials and get the best of those materials and you shouldn't go wrong. Remember that the designer calculated things carefully and it is just as bad to have the boat come out off it's lines too light as too heavy. Aim to get it perfect and the boat will perform as designed.
     
  14. JONSHOW
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    JONSHOW Junior Member

    lewisboats, thank you so much for you responses and this last set of tips.
    I came in to this thinking I wanted to slap something together over the course of a weekend and I'm leaving with what's likely to be a three month plan (or three year?!!) to build a pretty cool little boat.
    Knowing nothing of boat design or boat building I had no idea of the options that were actually out there.
    And I think I have figured out stitch-n-glue vs. screw-n-glue, where as stitch-n-g is a newer process that can provide quicker build times but can require a higher level of initial skill and attention to detail to execute with precision. Or am I off base on this one? I wonder if there are performance advantages/disadvantages to stitch-n-g vs. screw-n-g?
    And invariably, as my project progresses, I'm sure I'll have a few more questions that will be voiced across these forum pages.
    Thanks again, here's to hoping she comes out looking like Pete Brattens Dyno Mite (attached image)....
     

    Attached Files:


  15. lewisboats
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Screw and glue is generally heavier but ultimately simpler in a woodworking sense, Stitch and glue relies on the inherent properties of epoxy as a glue... and plywood panels...which are great! Screw and Glue ends up heavier!...read the old "Body on Frame" style of car building VS Stitch and Glue as the new Monocoque version of building where only minimal framing is needed...less weight and less hassle for the same stiffness. The chines are replaced by epoxy fillets and glass tape which bond the panels together and distribute the stresses evenly over a wider area of the surface than concentrated chine logs would...all at a lesser weight than the equivalent in solid wood! If the design calls for S&G...that is what you should use. Personally...I use it as much as possible to lighten and stiffen any boat I build...and I design towards that standard in virtually all my designs.

    May you have success on this and any other builds you endeavor to consruct. Remember...we all LOVE to hear of of a successful launch...or even an unsuccessful launch when all is said and done!
     
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